222
222 is a short story written by . It will be mostly improvisational but the basic premise will be is "A girl named Adalyn goes back to live with her parents after like a couple years away from them and she gets used to living back in this small town full of weirdos." As such, the cast and world will be mostly new as of writing. It will be more grounded than the usual fantasy stories that Exotoro writes. Cast Melbourne Family *'Adalyn Melbourne' - A 23 year old woman who left the nest early to peruse a writing career and moving to the big city to do so. Couple years later, she went flat-out broke and has to move back with her parents and family. An aspiring writer, fairly attractive but not extremely social. *'Baldwin Melbourne' - The father of Adalyn and her sister. Baldwin owns a video store business, which seems to generate less and less money every passing week. He's too stubborn to sell off the business, causing tensions between family members. He does genuinely care for them but knows when to cross the line. *'Camille Melbourne' - Adalyn's sister who is younger than her, yet looks older and is taller than her. She aspires to live the high life and get away from her family. She does whatever she can to do so, including dating rich jerks and doing things she doesn't want to do but will do for a chance at fame or fortune. She knows her boundaries and frequently crosses them. *'Daria Melbourne' - The mother of Adalyn and Camille. Fairly reserved yet stern, having specific ideas for her daughter's futures and if anything gets in the way of that she'll fight to keep their futures on track. Although she frequently fights over the fate of the video store, she does really love her family and just wants the best for them. The Town *'Racheal Bandervelt' - A yoga instructor who's into all kinds of kinky stuff. Despite her odd quirks, she really does mean well for her students even if half of it is driven by seeing sexy bodies working out. Story The story will have 16 (2^2^2) chapters in total. Chapter 1: Baggage Adalyn stared out the airplane window, above the clouds, above it all. She certainly didn't feel above it all. She was going back to Elkhorn to retreat from her dream to become a writer in the big city of Chicago. Rent was too much and she wasn't making much money. She was also trapped within a writer's block to make things just ever so slightly worse. She sighed as she rested back in her seat. Elkhorn was her admitting defeat. No, mom, I couldn't make it as a writer out in Chicago. You were right. She thought to herself. She groaned, knowing she'd have go to back home and admit that just by arriving. She already admitted it when she bought the plane tickets, she admitted it when she got on the plane. She had a sense of denial still intact through, that would be tossed away as soon as she came back to the house. Three years had been a long time. She wondered what had changed. Her younger sister had to be 18 now, right? She left at 20, she was... 15. Wow. She leaned against the seat, taking in the idea that her sister was now, by all means, an adult. And her parents! She wasn't sure how they would look but they had to be looking pretty old now. She was both excited... and frightened. She stared out the window, looking at the dark blue skies with the grey clouds. Flight was coming to an end soon. She fumbled over her notebook, filled with half-written sentences and jotted phrases of fancy. Like a spilled out memory into a dream She sighed as she rested her head into her hands. She adjusted her glasses a bit, swiped some of her red hair back and breathed as she felt the place slowly begin to seep past the clouds and down to the runway miles below. Her blue eyes blinked twice before staring out into the seat. She could only go up from here. Elkhorn was rock bottom, she could build her way back out. The plane skidded down the runway, slowing in speed as the wheel jutted up and down the ground before gliding across. She sat in her chair, gripping onto the arm rests before the plane came to a stop. Finally, people were boarding out. She grabbed her laptop bag and slung it over her shoulder. As she headed out to the terminal, she took cautious steps forward. She knew her family would be waiting ahead, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to see what three years did to them. Making her way to arrivals, she saw her dad and mom, almost exactly as she remembered them. Her sister looked very different, albeit she still registered as her sister. She wore a black dress with no straps, matching her raven colored hair. She seemed tall, even taller than herself. She felt unnerved. "Adalyn!" cried out her mother, running over to hug her. She tensed up as she felt her mother's warmth grasp her like a claw machine hand gripping a prize. She pulled back a bit as her mother let go, staring at the car. The car was obviously new. It was a red car with a seat for the passenger and driver, and a bench for about three more people to share. "You got any baggage?" asked her father, staring at the laptop bag. Truth be told, everything she needed over here was in the bag. She hadn't packed anything else, putting everything else she owned either up for sale or in a storage garage in an entirely different state entirely. "Nope." she said. She made her way to the back seat, scooting to the right side as she was the first one in. She looked out the window as the other three packed in. "Do you want to tell us about Chicago?" asked her mother, her voice having a mocking tone in Adalyn's eyes. Adalyn shook her head. "Maybe later." She looked at her sister again. How was she taller than her? Sure, both were done with growing, but in the old world being the oldest meant you were the tallest. How did it become backwards while she was gone? Had she been to a party or something? What was up with the dress? Questions would come another time though. For now, she shut her eyes as they prepared to head back on a hour and a half drive back to the home in Elkhorn. Chapter 2: Dinner for Four She felt someone shaking her awake as they pulled into the driveway. She adjusted her glasses as she got up, feeling heavy. "Someone's got jet-lag..." said her mother. Adalyn groaned as she got out of the car. Like she really needed her mother to be noting that now. "Come on in sleepyhead, we've got spaghetti cooked all up for you." As she took her seat at the family setting, she glanced at the family members she hadn't really seen in a while. They were familiar, sure, but they had changed in slight ways. Her sister, Camille, for instance, seemed a bit more elegant than the last time she saw her. Her black diamond earrings had a line of gold twisting around them. Her hair was long and not a strand was out of place, flowing towards her back. Did mom and dad ask her to dress up for this? Her dad and mom weren't wearing anything special so that theory was debunked right away. Her mom had some grey to her hair now, but she was how she remembered her. Her father had aged less gracefully, with some wrinkles under the eyes and a bald spot of hair. Adalyn looked at the plate and twirled the fork into the pasta noodles, slurping them up. The pasta hadn't changed a bit. "So... tell us about Chicago. What's the big city like?" asked her mother, edging her for answers. Adalyn groaned a bit. She wanted to know just how badly she fucked up, didn't she? Maybe not, there was the possibility her mother just genuinely wanted to know what the big city was like. She'd play it cool for now. "Oh... it's nothing much different. It's louder than here in the suburbs but you get used to the noises at night... it's smaller in terms of living spaces but I mean... when you live in the big city, you 'live' in the city basically... if you get what I'm getting at." she said, eating some more noodles as she talked. They weren't typically a family that cared much about manners. Except now, apparently. "Hey, don't talk with your mouth open." said Camille, scooting away from Adalyn. Adalyn looked at her oddly, looking to her father. "She's been hanging out with some... classier people. She's got her head set on being rich and/or famous, Daria can't fault her for that and she seems to be pretty on-set to the track to that..." her father paused, looking at Daria, his wife, realizing he was setting up Daria for some expression of disappointment. He quickly tacked a question onto the silence. "So... you found a boy yet or nah?" "Haha... uh..." Adayln said, her mind racing with new fears. Were her parents homophobic? She forgot, she legitimately never had an idea about what they thought about homosexuals. Her father could read her though. "Mmm... not a boy, huh," said her father. "Been down this road with your sister, actually. Camille's bisexual. For future reference, we're cool with it..." Adalyn sighed in relief. Well, there was one thing she didn't need to worry about ever again. There were still a dozen more though. "So wait, are you bi or lesbian?" asked her mother. Adalyn nervously looked at her. She knew her parents wouldn't judge, just asking, but she felt so uneasy about it. "L-lesbian," she stuttered out. "Heh... look, I dunno if we should really get too much into it..." "Eh, why not? We're all adults here," said her father, putting his hands behind his hands. "We should probably catch up with you too." Adalyn realized that, holy shit, they were all adults. "Well, I'm not dating anyone right now. Was about two years ago... it's probably not a good idea to talk about them because I'll get all weepy and... ugh," she explained. "Could... could we talk about something else, maybe?" She wasn't having a good dinner all the sudden. "And not talk about how I'm such a failure for not making it out into Chicago as a writer?" Her eyes were full of hot tears and she tried to wipe them away, with some reasonable success. "...Adalyn... honey..." Daria said, wrapping her arms around her first born and patting her on the back. "I'm not mad or really that disappointed in you. I know if you keep trying you'll make it out there. I just don't want you to fail but I'm not upset that you didn't make it big in a city full of thousands of people by yourself. I think this can be a learning experience for you." Those were words Adalyn didn't exactly expect out of her mother, but her perception of people was always kind of off. The two released their grip from each other and went back to dinner. "So... where am I sleeping?" "Well, we made your room a guest room. Renovated it a bit, new mattress and paint. You can sleep there until we have Grandma in a month, then you're gonna sleep in the living room. Not exactly ideal, I know but you can make it work." said her father. Adalyn nodded her head. "Anything else I should know when I stay here?" "Well, as long as you're here, you're not gonna slack off. You're gonna go to yoga, you're gonna get a actual job until you can make it as a writer, and you're..." her mother began rattling off, Adalyn's eyes rolling. Her dad interjected. "I can take care of the job thing." said her dad, slight excitement in his voice. Her mother rolled her eyes. "Oh, you mean the video store that's slowly going to go out of business? Face it, it's a lost cause, Baldwin." said her mother. Her father sighed at his wife's lack of belief in the video store, but looked to Adalyn with a pleading look. Adalyn seemed a bit lost. Video store? "Oh right... the video store," Camille said. "Dad bought one of those old Blockbusters and renovated it into his own little rental video shop with a new logo and everything. He really believes in it... too bad nobody else does." Adalyn looked at her mother. She had constantly gotten after her for not pursuing a "real" job, insisting she do something "actually productive" instead writing little stories. The remarks grew less frequent over time, but it was still frequent enough to make her realize until she made it as a writer that her mother wouldn't ever respect her. She glanced at her father. "I'll work at the video store." Adalyn said. Her mother groaned. Her father smiled. Camille kept eating, her elbows away from the table. Adalyn knew she was making the right choice. Chapter 3: Yoga Stripped Bones Adalyn laid back on the couch, thinking about how to get out of the blank page dilemna. She’d try something only to realize she wasn’t “ready” to write it and try to move to another idea she realized was far less baked than the one she had tried to do before. Urgh. Moving from Chicago to Elkhorn didn’t help at all, even as she was surrounded in the same walls that made her want to be a writer to start with. Maybe she had to start with something new? She tried that though. Nothing happened in the desert with the frog and the girl in the tattered cloak. She held her head against her palms. It was stupid and dumb how she couldn’t write as a goddamn writer. She didn’t even care if it was good, it could be fixed in editing, but she just couldn’t take off like she did when she was younger. She wasn’t even that old… She groaned in frustration. Her mother walked into the room, looking vaguely upset. “Adalyn. We need to go.” she stated with a faint upset layer inflected within her voice. Adalyn jumped up. She actually didn’t remember where they need to go, but she knew if she didn’t get there, her mom would even be madder at her. She hurried over to the garage door and opened up the passenger door, her mom settling into the driver’s seat and backing out of the garage. “So… did you do anything in Chicago?” her mom asked. “This is a serious question. Did you make any friends, publish anything or…?” Adalyn hung her head a bit. “Yeah, I got some stories published in a little newspaper. Didn’t really take off or pay that well, but there you go. As for friends… well you know me.” “Mhmm,” her mother said, looking straight down the road. “Look, can you at least try to make some friends or network a bit? You’re not going to GO anywhere if you don’t do that.” “Look, I would if I could- I admittedly didn’t try too hard in Chicago but…” Adalyn said. Her mother only dealt in absolutes. “But… look, it’s just hard to find people I want to be friends with to begin with.” “So you’re telling me that in a city of thousands of people, you didn’t find ONE person you wanted to be friends with?” asked her mother. She didn’t want to get into a fight, but her mother and herself were two very different people. Her mother had no idea what she wanted to do for her major and while she had a biology degree, she never worked after marrying Baldwin. She was a mother, that was her job. “No, I didn’t. Look, you know I’m not social, I don’t look at a person and decide ‘Oh hey, I wanna be friends with them’. I dunno if that’s what ‘normal’ people do but…” she said, looking out the window as she trailed off. “But…?” asked her mother. “Forget it, forget it.” said Adalyn said, pressing her face against the window. The car pulled up the yoga studio. Said studio was under the title “Moving Mountains”. ---- Adalyn went inside Moving Mountains by herself, her mother pulling out her tablet to continue watching some show about a demon cop to occupy herself while Adalyn did her yoga class. She breathed in and headed towards the open room, its walls covered in wide mirrors and it’s floor decorated with mats and white colored wood. A woman sat in the back part of the left of the room, her legs folded forward over each other. Her hands pressed against each other in front of her chest and her breathing was slow. She opened her eyes as Adalyn sat down on the mat. Adalyn figured she was early. Place was bare except for her and what she believed must be the teacher. The woman had pale skin and a jet onyx set of hair that was tied back in a pony tail. She wore a blue sports bra and a black pair of yoga pants. She was fairly… attractive? Appealing? Adalyn didn’t want to think too objectively of her. “Hello,” said the woman. “Am I correct in assuming you’re new?” Adalyn froze up for a moment before deciding to answer. “Yes... I am new.” she responded. The woman beamed. “Ah, I could tell because you look like you just drove over here. Name’s Racheal Bandervelt, I’m the yoga instructor.” she said, outstretching her hand for Adalyn to shake. Adalyn shook her hand. “Name’s Adalyn… what do you mean by just drove over here…? I… did just drive over here, what do you mean by that?” Adalyn asked. “Ah… well most of my students are a bit more prepared for my class, wearing sport bras and yoga pants… I recommend you get those too…” she said, patting Adalyn’s kneecaps. “No issue if you can’t, but they do help maneuver a bit…” “Uh… alright.” said Adalyn. Rachael got up and stretched her arms out. A couple of other women entered the classroom. Adalyn felt a bit out of place in her lazily put on outfit of a t-shirt and jeans. As the class filled up, she watched as Rachael stretched out and then stood up. “Follow my lead please…” as Rachael laid down on her back, her legs and feet flat against the mat. Adalyn copied her pose, laying flat on her back. She would glance from time to time to make sure that she was doing it correctly before staring back up to the ceiling. “Spread your legs and lift…” she heard. She awkwardly raised her legs up to the air, spreading them apart. “Nice… nice…” Rachael said, glancing at the class. Adalyn wasn’t sure what that meant. “Place your palms on your thighs…” Adalyn felt an unusual sense as she did it… not in a bad way but more of an unsure way. Was yoga supposed to be like this? She kept the pose up for a while and then switched to lie on her stomach as she saw Rachael do that. She stood on her hands and feet, attempting mimic the class the best she could. It was an odd experience, being completely lost and doing these poses in front of everyone in the room who was also doing them. As the class drew to a close, Rachel sat with her legs crossed. “Good job, good job. See you Thursday…” Adalyn went to go out the door but Rachael grabbed her arm. “Hey, for a beginner you seemed to get those poses really well,” Adalyn blushed. “You are coming Thursday, right?” Adalyn nodded, not entirely sure why she was. As she got out to the car, her mom put away her tablet after a silent minute. “How was it?” Adalyn pondered for a bit. “It was alright I suppose…” “Mm. Well you’ve got two more of these to go before you can drop it, so…” her mother replied, twisting the key in. Adalyn nodded. Chapter 4: Home Video Adalyn sat the cash register desk, looking at her phone. Her father, who was taking out a bunch of Blu-Rays out from a box, glanced at her and curled his lips in frustration. He set down the last Blu-Ray onto a shelf and walked over to her. She put down the phone. "Listen, I know this place doesn't get a lot of service, but could you just at least look you're on the job? I'm not asking too much, I mean you get pretty nice shifts and you don't even really have to do much..." he said. Adalyn admittedly knew looking at her cellphone was a bad look, but there had literally not been anyone in hours. “What else do you want me to do though? There’s nothing to really watch… do you expect me to stare out into the store until a customer shows up with stuff to rent?” asked Adalyn. Her father relaxed his face a bit. “Fine… just keep it away when there’s a customer in here, okay?” replied her father. The door swung open, surprising the two of them as a bell rung into the store’s emptiness. A man with a sand colored hat stepped into the store, breathing in the air before venturing inside. “Who’s that?” asked Adalyn. “Something about him seems oddly… familiar, can’t put my finger on it…” “I dunno… I’ve never seen that man before in my life.” replied her father as he went over to help the man. Adalyn watched the man from the register, not quite sure where she saw him before… if she did. A young man with black hair leaned on the counter. “Who are you exactly?” she asked, not sure how he got here. “It’s my first day here so… I don’t know everyone here…” Adalyn asked, not sure if she should be embarrassed or not. “Oh… me?” asked the boy. “I work here, name’s Derrick.” he said, outstretching his hand. “My shift’s in about five minutes so…” Adalyn shook his hand. “Ah okay,” she said. The man in the sand colored hat placed down a couple VHS tapes. “Oh hey. VHS Tapes? You do know we have stuff that’s a bit more… current, right? Especially for those movies...” “Ah well… I’m just a man who enjoys the films of old, you know? There’s something magical about the quality of VHS, not matter how outdated it is.” the man laughed a bit as Adalyn mentally rolled her eyes. “Say… do I know you from somewhere?” she asked. Something about this man felt very familiar to her but she still couldn’t nail it down. “Probably not.” said the man simply. Adalyn scanned the VHS tapes and placed them in a plastic bag and handed it to him. She felt bad for calling him out like that considering it was probably not attention he wanted, but something seemed oddly familiar. Just far too familiar… Derrick walked behind the counter as Adalyn finished restoring the cash. Her shift was done… time for lunch. ---- She walked down the small town streets, streets she hadn’t traveled down for a long time. It felt bizarrely familiar; she would recognize the playground she had played on when she was a kid but then there would be a new modern art piece she didn’t remember seeing. Ads had changed, as they typically would, but they were hung up the same place they always were. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same. She wanted lunch… but what would good place to eat? The place with the roll up sandwiches? Well, that's what came to mind first and she knew where that was, so she headed down the street past the old tagged fire hydrant. She entered Cliff Wrapped Sandwiches, the interior reminding her of a warehouse with a couple drab abstract paintings hung up on the walls. The ever so strange clown mascot on the promotional posters still made her wonder who thought that was a good idea. It wasn't too particularly busy so she could just head up straight to the counter. The cashier seemed to recognize her. "Adalyn?" asked the cashier, who Adalyn still didn't remember. "Hi, it's me, Madison." Madison. She remembered Madison. The blonde girl who changed her hair color every three months or so, to the point where it was hard to remember her real color. She wore such nice outfits and was always seen with some guy, but she was admittedly attractive. "Oh hey Madison..." Adalyn pondered off for a bit, remembering her. They never really talked but they knew each other through osmosis, she supposed. "How have you been?" "Eh, haven't been up to much! Dad passed away so he passed this down to mom, and she hasn't been taking his death or the sudden responsibility too well... I'm helping her out a bit, but I've still got college to deal with..." Madison said. "I shouldn't really bother you too much! I wouldn't want to lose a customer." "Nah, nah. It's fine. I like hearing about how people have moved on since I left." Adalyn stated, almost immediately regretting her words. Her father just died, you moron. She thought to herself. Nobody cares where you went because you just went straight back to here like the failure you are. "You left?" Madison asked. "To where?" "Ah... nowhere important. I came back anyway. Anyway, I'd like a BLT." said Adalyn. Madison nodded and hammered on the cashier. "That will be 6.78." she said. Adalyn handed her a five dollar bill with two one dollar bills resting on top of it. "Not one for change, honestly, so you can just keep it." said Adalyn as she went down to sit down. There was the guy in the cap again. He looked very familiar to her and she still couldn't explain why. Maybe he's my grandfather or maybe a C-List celebrity. She thought to herself. More accomplished than I'll ever be... She brought out her phone. Thing was already beginning to die with 20% left. She sighed. She was gonna have to bring her phone charger on work days if she wanted to get through them. Madison set down a tray with her tortilla wrapped BLT and she bit into it, thanking Madison. Things might not be too bad after all. It wasn't a new town, it was something old that she could handle. She knew she could, she had been doing it for years now. ---- She flipped the sign around on the video store, stating it was now closed for the night. She was pretty tired. It was ten, Dad had already gone home, and she would need to drive herself back after a fairly uneventful day. As she got in the car, she wondered if she should try dating again. She had no idea if anyone else was accepting of it as her parents, but maybe she could get something out of her visit here than reliving old memories... She sighed as she started the car. Chapter 5: The Pool Tonight was honey chicken and noodles. They weren't even remotely Asian, but Adalyn's mother just loved to try new foods from everywhere else when they were younger. Thai, Chinese, Mexican, Vietnamese, French... it never stopped. Adalyn and her sister did actually really enjoy this meal, with the sweet tasting chicken and flavorful noodles. "Mom, there's a party I want to go to." her sister stated. "Camille, this better be within a week and not tonight. Sick of you springing this stuff up on me!" said her mother. "Oh liven up. What do you got going on anymore?" asked Camille. She had a nasty habit of talking back in the worst way. "And yeah, it's tonight." "Ugh... who are you getting to drive over there? It ain't me." she said, looking at her husband. "I'm not driving there tonight either, I've got the video shop to look after. We're getting a bunch of VCR and DVD donations tonight and I gotta make sure those work well to allow people to rent them." her father responded. "Well... can't Adalyn take me? She knows how to drive and it's not like she's got anything going on..." Camille stated, looking at her sister eagerly. "Uh..." Adalyn uttered. "I think I need to help Dad with the donations..." "Aw come on, my boyfriend's gonna be there and it's a huge party and I don't want to risk my status..." Camille whined. "I know you don't understand but it's important to me that I go..." Adalyn hadn't been to a party a long time. Considering her position here... maybe this could be fun. "Well, you have to bring your lame sister along too... to the party." "Oh no," Camille stated, looking anxious. "You're... just gonna drop me off and then pick me up later..." she stated. "Like you really have the bargaining chip here. I wanna see what this is about." Adalyn said. "No... I don't think you would like it..." Camille stated. "Look, I can either drive you there and go with you to the party, or you can not go at all." said Adalyn. "What's the harm in bringing her?" her mother said. "Erm... fine." Camille said. She looked pretty defeated. ---- TBA Chapter 6: Mortelle Thoughts Chapter 7: Auteur Chat Chapter 8: Eyes Closed, Can't Lose Trivia *This story was originally going to be a collaboration with , however the collaboration element was dropped before the story began as Exotoro feared it wasn't going to work. **An early version of this was also meant to be the basis of a collaboration between Exotoro and . however went nowhere. Category:Xenoro Category:Short Stories Category:Writings Category:One Shots